I'm in the process of buying a 1998 Ford E250 SD Sportsmobile EB50. You might have seen discussions here about it. My regular insurance company, for some reason, needs to know the original purchase price(?!?). I contacted Sportsmobile with the VIN, but was told they only file under original purchaser's name and they didn't know what the original purchase price was.

They suggested I contact American Adventure Insurance because "many Sportsmobile owners have had very good results with them." So, I contacted and had an interesting conversation about what a Sportsmobile actually is and the difference between a Sportsmobile, a van, and a Ford E250 SD with a 5.4L V8 (more ?!?). They're going to get back with me.

I told my agent I would expect the conversion to be about $20k above the value of the new van, so thanks for the affirmation Offroading is Fun. Still, it's boggling to me why they want original cost. Next, they'll want to see the factory invoice. Thanks, again.

In the link you attached, The original listing stated they had all manuals & documentation - if you received these I suspect someplace on paperwork appears the original owners name???
My manuals had original build sheet with owners name, had the Purchase order & window sticker from Ford with the name on it, maintenance invoices, and a couple warranty cards.
No intention here to come across as insulting, but have you thumbed through all the paperwork?

In the link you attached, The original listing stated they had all manuals & documentation - if you received these I suspect someplace on paperwork appears the original owners name???
My manuals had original build sheet with owners name, had the Purchase order & window sticker from Ford with the name on it, maintenance invoices, and a couple warranty cards.
No intention here to come across as insulting, but have you thumbed through all the paperwork?

I haven't seen the original paperwork, yet. I've seen the maintenance records for the past 5 years. But, that's a good thought. I forgot that comment was there. I'll check it out when I pick it up next week. Not insulting, in the least.

I told my agent I would expect the conversion to be about $20k above the value of the new van, so thanks for the affirmation Offroading is Fun. Still, it's boggling to me why they want original cost. Next, they'll want to see the factory invoice. Thanks, again.

Ha! If only it were $20k above original price. I'm thinking about $60k, which is more like 40k above original price.

SMB has/had some very strange practices as far as record keeping but 2X is right, the original owner's name is probably in the binder somewhere. Mine was. Also, SMB being a small company, you are likely to find the name elsewhere. Example: I have the original fiberglass disc spare tire cover from my Sportsmobile (the kind with the chrome ring around the tire mounted on back door, very old school and cheesy) and on the back of it is written in magic marker the original buyer's name.